Mark Kassen's Like Minded Media Launches COVID Help Network

The online platform is meant to connect medical facilities with companies looking to assist with the making of emergency medical supplies.

Producer Mark Kassen's multimedia company, Like Minded Media Launches, has launched the COVID Help Network, an online platform that is meant to connect medical facilities with companies looking to adapt their current operations to assist with the making of emergency medical supplies.

“My mom at the end of her career trained people who would be taking care of the most infirm,” explains Kassen, whose mother was a nurse and father was a pharmacist, to The Hollywood Reporter. “I can’t do anything close to what those nurses can do but I had access to some technology and a bunch of people who were willing to help.”

Partnering with medical tech company Masimo and the Patient Safety Movement, the Help Network is meant to facilitate the direct communication between states and companies, and will allow companies to search supply needs by state so they can help fulfill localized needs.

Kassen and his team, which included 30 engineers, worked for a week to get the self-funded network up-and-running. "We are creating this in real time and different people have different needs, and new problems arise every day," says Kassen. "Instead of taking months and months like we normally would, we decided to do the best we could and then go forward."

"I'm amazed by the LM Labs team on how fast they created this once they saw the need," said Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, in a statement.

The Medical Device Manufacturers Association and the National Governors Association, which consists of the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths, support the platform. Mark Leahey, president and CEO of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, offered: "While our members continue to make the lifesaving and life-changing technologies and diagnostics that patients are in need of, the COVID Help Network platform is a powerful tool to assist in connecting the countless stakeholders across the United States who are looking for ways to help."

Show Me Your MuMu, For Love & Lemons and Devil Dog Dungarees are among the suppliers represented on the network, which categorizes state-by-state product need and organizations by product type. The goal is to simultaneously stock medical personnel with much-needed supplies, while allowing manufacturers to continue operations in the current pared-down economy.

"We didn't do this to launch a platform that can sell goods or be a part of the ecosystem forever," says Kassen. He adds: "I hope we are obsolete in two months."